Survivor 41’s premiere date is quickly approaching, which implies one other action-packed season in stunning Fiji — in truth, Jeff Probst says Survivor 41 is essentially the most harmful season but. Nonetheless, the hit CBS present nearly didn’t make it to Fiji this yr because of COVID-19. The truth is, Jeff Probst says that Survivor 41 was nearly filmed in Georgia or Hawaii. Right here’s what went down, together with why CBS chooses to movie the present in Fiji.
Why ‘Survivor 41’ nearly occurred in Georgia or Hawaii
Survivor 41 is understood for filming in stunning Fiji, and earlier than that, a lot of unique or difficult places. Nonetheless, the present has by no means been hosted in the U.S., and COVID-19 nearly modified that. Figuring out filming grew to become so exhausting, that Georgi and Hawaii had been being thought of.
“It was March 2020 when we made the official decision to postpone shooting Survivor 41 in Fiji. We immediately turned our full attention to finding another location and even considered shooting domestically in Georgia or Hawaii,” Survivor host Jeff Probst instructed Entertainment Weekly.
“It was a daily battle of whack-a-mole, as every time we thought we had a potential spot, COVID would surge and we would be back to square one,” he added.
“After trying to shoot in the summer and then again in the fall of 2020, we finally made the decision to wait it out and resume production in March of 2021 back in Fiji.”
Capturing in Fiji was an uphill battle
Though Jeff Probst and CBS had been capable of lock down Fiji for his or her location, there have been nonetheless loads of challenges to face down when it got here to creating Survivor 41 a actuality. Most significantly, the workforce needed to work out COVID protocols to make sure everybody’s security.
“We worked with the Fiji government to create what was essentially a large bubble that consisted of several islands — including tribe camps, challenge locations, Tribal Council, and base camp,” Probst defined.
“This extended bubble would be our home for the next many months. Once every crew member and player had quarantined for 14 days and received a negative test, we were able to move freely between those islands, with no risk, because it was only our crew and we were all safe.”
Sadly, as a consequence of numerous journey insurance policies and outbreaks, the Survivor workforce wasn’t capable of fly in each crew member to assist put the brand new season collectively. Probst mentioned this was the most important problem of all, because the workforce is like one massive household.
Why does ‘Survivor’ movie in Fiji?
Fiji has turn into Survivor’s go-to on the subject of filming, and it appears unlikely that that is going to vary anytime quickly. One cause why is cash — filming in Fiji outcomes in large rebates for CBS and Survivor.
Per Newswire, filming Survivor: Millennials vs Gen X and Recreation Changers in Fiji resulted in a $13.9 million FJD rebate — roughly $6,300,000 USD.
“I think we have never paid out such a large rebate,” mentioned Fijian Minister for Finance Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum of the rebate.
“And that is a fact of integrity of much we have spent by the Survivor series in Fiji and we are getting 47% of that spent and many Fijians have benefited from when the show was shot in Mamanuca and Mana Island [sic],” he added.
“Fiji offers us everything that we want. Incredibly beautiful water that you can see down 30 feet, beaches that are amazing, a government that is working with us, local labor that loves to say ‘Bula!’ every day because they’re just happy you’re here. And our crew has never been as happy. We actually have decent accommodations to do this show out in the jungle. It’s a win-win-win,” Probst beforehand told EW.
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